Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

Long Pallet Made With 2X4's

Every once in a while, I come upon a nice surprise when I am out looking for pallets. Yesterday, I found a 4X9 foot pallet, made up of only 2X4's, and it was in great condition.

Here is a picture of that long pallet on my old utility trailer...

My original plan was to pick up a bunch of "normal" sized pallets, but when I got to the place to pick up the pallets, I found this one. So, my plans changed, and I ended up getting only this one long pallet. You can see that the wood is in great condition. I started working on building a workbench for new table saw a few days ago, and I was just going to use some old 2X4's I pulled from my lumber pile, but the wood on this long pallet is like brand new!

Today, I disassembled the pallet and denailed the 2X4's. I counted (23) 4-foot-long boards and (3) 9-foot-long boards. That's a lot of 2X4's already cut at 48 inches for my projects. Although lumber has come down from the sky-high prices a few years ago, a 2X4X8 pine board is selling for $4.39 each. Given that price, I am getting about $65.00 worth of 2X4's from that one pallet! Not too bad. Certainly, paid for the extra gas I used when I hitched up the old trailer to go into town.

I split the ends on a few boards when I pulled them off the pallet with my pallet buster, but none of the boards actually broke. I don't use the pallet buster very often, but it was the right tool for the job today. It did a good job on taking off the 2X4's.

Here is a picture of my DIY pallet buster in front of a pallet wood planter I built a couple years ago...

I was going to just pound out the nails with my heavy hammer, because there was not too many to do. However, I came across a nail that was nailed into a knot in the board and the nail would only bend when I hit it with my hammer. That nail would not come out.

Long story short, I took out my Air Locker AP700 nail punch and that punched the nail out of the knot without any problems. Very nice. I really like my Air Locker AP700...

For those thinking about doing a lot of pallet work and taking nails out of the boards, the Air Locker AP700 is about 3X-4X faster for me than using a heavy hammer. It's not a required tool for pallet projects, but it sure cuts down on time required to take all those nails out.

Another benefit to the Air Locker AP700 is that the nose on the gun is used to straighten out the nail before you hit the trigger to punch the nail out. If you save your nails for a future project, the Air Locker AP700 leaves you with many more straight nails compared to pounding them out with a hammer.

I was able to get my old trailer out of the snow the other day and hooked it up to the Santa Fe. My old Ford Explorer is my main working pickup, but I put it in winter storage last fall and have not yet put it back on the insurance. If we get some more days of nice weather like today (55F), I'll probably get it back into use sooner than I expected.

Most of our snow is now melted and it looks like we might get an early spring. That would be nice. I parked my car outside of the garage a few days ago and started setting up a workshop in the garage. Just getting ready to start some new pallet projects in a few weeks. Still a bit cold in the garage (44F), but not too bad if I keep busy. Felt good to be working out there today, taking apart that long pallet.

 

[chickengr]

@gt

View attachment 4065601

I made a milking stand like this one only without feeder. goats didn't like it and my stuuuuuupid boy dismantled it in less than 24 hours

 

[gtaus]

I made a milking stand like this one only without feeder. goats didn't like it and my stuuuuuupid boy dismantled it in less than 24 hours

That's too bad. I have never had a goat, but I have heard that they can be hard to care for. When I was stationed in Italy, our landlord had a milking goat. One day it was gone, so I asked him what happened? He said the goat jumped on top of his car and scratched it all up. That was the end of the goat in our backyard!

 

[chickengr]

That's too bad. I have never had a goat, but I have heard that they can be hard to care for. When I was stationed in Italy, our landlord had a milking goat. One day it was gone, so I asked him what happened? He said the goat jumped on top of his car and scratched it all up. That was the end of the goat in our backyard!

I am thinking about getting a young boy who will grow up till the next breeding season. this one tried to knock down chicken coop. luckily it has been made of iron.

a friend of mine will come today to help me make some sort of mobile milking station.

 

[gtaus]

We got a bunch of snow this past Saturday. It's winter here again.

We had a few days of mid 50F's last week and I got all excited about starting some pallet wood projects. I got all the 2X4's ready for my new adjustable height table saw workbench. I parked one of our cars outside and started converting half of the garage into a workshop again. I got one of my riding mowers running - the one that I use to pull my dump carts. I got a 50-foot-tall dead pine tree pulled down and cut up. I started cleaning up the yard from the branches that fell down over winter.

But then we got more snow last Saturday than we got from any storm this winter. About 8 inches of fresh snow in a few hours. I had to get out the big gas snowblower to clear the driveway. Of course, life could not be that easy for me and the starter cord snapped right off. Yes, the snowblower also has an electric starter, but one of the bolts came loose and the starter motor is misaligned and will not work, either. It was not a big deal for me because the snowblower always started on the first pull of the cord - until that cord snapped.

Anyways, I had to use my little powered snow shovel. It turned a 30-minute job with the gas snow blower into an hour and a half with the powered snow shovel. It does a good job on the small projects, but I really needed the gas snow blower to clear the driveway this time. I got enough done to get the cars out of the driveway in a single lane. My old back really tightened up after that workout and I have spent the past three days in recovery, popping aspirin as needed.

No complaints about my little powered snow shovel. It worked above its design capacity. I don't think I could use a manual snow shovel anymore. So, I was just thankful that I was able to clear as much as I could.

All my pallet projects I was going to work on got put on hold. I fixed the starter rope on the snow blower the next day and finished clearing the driveway properly. I found a bolt for the electric starter, so I can put that back together - after I buy some Loctite Blue to secure the bolt in place so I don't lose it again...

Oh, I also picked up about 8 pallets last week that I was going to tear apart. Unfortunately, they are full of snow right now. Too wet to even bring into the garage to work on.

Nothing in the long-term 7-day forecast that indicates any end of the winter yet. But I am ready for winter to be over and done with. Funny how I was all excited about starting some new pallet projects but then all my priorities changed in one day of heavy snow. Later...

 

[Sally PB]

Last day of winter: 68°
First day of spring: 38°

hello from Michigan.

 

[gtaus]

Last day of winter: 68°
First day of spring: 38°

hello from Michigan.

Yeah, that's just not right...

I really don't want to boost the heat out in the garage when our nighttime temps are down to about 12F. The floor heat in the garage is set at 45F, but it dips down to about 41F overnight on these cold days. I know warmer weather is only a few weeks away, but it sure was nice last week for a few days that got into the 50F's.

And by boosting the heat, I mean I would have to burn propane in my little Mr. Heater to bring up the temp in the garage to about 60F. The floor heat works great, but it can take days to increase the heat in the garage because the electric company will ripple the floor off-peak power a couple times a day. It slowly will increase the heat, but it's not like I can turn up the thermostat on the floor heat and have a warm shop in half an hour. My Mr. Heater does a good job, when I need it.

I have a lot of things I want to start doing when the weather warms up. Probably too much cabin fever. Winters always seem too long. There is nothing that I really need to do right now, but I might end up taking out Mr. Heater for a few days. It can boost the temp in the garage to about 60F in about 15 minutes. It's worth it if I have an emergency repair or plan on working out there all day. Neither is the case right now. I'm just anxious to be done with winter weather.

 

[Molpet]

No complaints about my little powered snow shovel.

I was thinking about one of those for the sidewalk and poultry yard.

I have a plow for my pickup. Last 2 years I have only used it a few times each year.
Sure was handy when we had the ground hog day blizzard the year before I retired. It was 22 inches. I got stuck plowing my neighbor's drift. High centered and in the drift so the doors wouldn't open. Went out the window. Used a 2x4 I had in the bed to get the snow out under the skid plates.

 

[gtaus]

I was thinking about one of those (small, powered snow shovels) for the sidewalk and poultry yard.

Yeah, it's perfect for those small jobs. I use my powered shovel to make a path to my chicken coop and to the water spigot on the house. Perfect tool for making a pathway or clearing a sidewalk.

I'm at an age where a powered snow shovel is appreciated. In my younger days, I would probably not appreciate it as much.

If you are already in a tool battery line, I would just look to see if you can get a powered snow shovel that uses your existing batteries. Although some brand snow shovels might have a few advantages over other brands, the major cost of all these tools is usually the batteries. In my case, the Ryobi powered snow shovel attachment is compatible with both my 18v and 40v Ryobi power heads.

All my battery-operated tools for my pallet projects and stuff are Ryobi, so I have lots (40+) of 18v batteries and (3) 40v batteries for the outdoor equipment. It just made sense for me to stay in the Ryobi line.

I have a plow for my pickup. Last 2 years I have only used it a few times each year.

I don't have a plow on my pickup, but I do have a big 8hp gas snowblower. I only used it twice last year, and only three times this year. That's a big expense that normally gets used less than 2 hours per year! I use my smaller powered snow shovel for light snowfalls. It's just easier to slap in a fresh battery and clean up the snow. I typically don't use the gas snowblower unless we get 4+ inches of snow at one time.

In any case, my small, powered snow shovel cleared enough snow after this recent snow storm that I was able to get the cars out of the driveway and go to town to buy a new starter rope for the gas snowblower.

I was not such a big fan of the battery powered snow blower when I first got it, but the more I use it, the more I use it - if that makes sense. I don't think I have used my manual snow shovels much since I got the powered snow shovel. If you know its limits, the powered snow shovel is a great tool.

 

[gtaus]

Well, another weekend end of year snowstorm again today. Halfway through the expected snowfall today. Everything covered with about 2 inches of snow again. Just can't seem to get rid of the stuff.

I decided to take the utility trailer into town yesterday, Saturday, and see if I could get a load of pallets. Harbor Freight had a nice stack of pallets outside on Friday, so that was my first stop. Unfortunately, someone beat me to it and there were only two pallets left. But I loaded them up in my empty trailer. I went to a few other places and they were empty as well.

So, I stopped at the Bobcat dealership, and they had a few stacks of off sized pallets to choose from in the back of their lot. I picked out what were the best I could find. Mostly smaller pallets with solid 2X4's without notches in them. Those shorter, solid 2X4's will be perfect in my raised bed builds where I use 2X4's in the corners to add strength to the framing. In any case, when I hitch the trailer up to the car, I like to fill it up with pallets on the way back home.

No special finds, just average pallets, but sometimes that is good enough. I plan on trying to make another four pallet wood raised garden beds this spring. Dear Wife already put in her request, probably more pallet wood planters on the list as well.

Just need to get rid of the snow for the year!